There are many devices for the dispensing and cutting of sheet or film-type material to a desired cut length. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,039 describes a film-sealing and film-cutting apparatus for sealing and cutting plastic film, wherein a sealing bar comes into pressure contact with two layers of plastic film retained by a hold-down bar, and a hot ribbon cutter moves in a reciprocating manner to sever the parallel sealed surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,292 discloses a web-feeding and web-severing device for thin-film plastic material, wherein a reciprocating cutting knife moves to sever the web material, while the web material is gripped along its side edges. U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,528 employs a pair of clamping jaws, one jaw being fixed, and a fixed knife for the severing and welding of a thermoplastic tubing film. Other film-sealing and film-cutting apparatuses of the prior art are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,321,353 and 3,863,821.
Despite the numerous devices used for the dispensing and cutting of film material, there still exists a need for an apparatus and a method of cutting and dispensing sheet material, particularly relatively thick foam sheet material, to desired lengths, which device is simple in design, is easily manufactured and operated, is inexpensive and which provides for rapid, effective and accurate cutting of the sheet material in a continuous manner to desired lengths.